Rail-holding clamp



April 13 192s.- 1,580,258

C. P. KIMMEL RAIL HOLDING CLAMP 7 Filed 001;. 17. 1925 I T 0 all whom it may concern Patented Apr. 1 3, 19 2 6 CHARLES r. KIMMEL,

or GARY, IN IANA.

RAIL-HOLDING. cLAMr. I

Application filedlqctol er 17, i925. Serial No. 63,068.

, Be it li nown that I, CH RLES P. .Kiiviiv nnfl a'citizen of the United States, residing at Gary inthecounty of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new-and use--.

ful Improvementsin a RaiLHoldingGlamp,

of which the following is a specification. ;My invention relates to rail holding devices, and particularly to a novel; clamp adapted for use in connection with a tie such as disclosed in the'copending application of McManus & Kimmel, Serial No. 23,192, filed April15, 1925, Patent No.:1,560,069, of Nov. 3, 1925. 1 a

An object of my invention istoprovide holding means adapted for use in connece tion with metal ties, said means providing a positive, certain and unyielding. hold: for the rail. The parts are so designed that lateralor vertical thrusts or the components of such forceare resistedby-positive means as jdistinguished from means-such-as bolts and nuts. The'tlirusts mentioned are resisted in such manner that there isnoescape or l0osening of the rail without actual bending or distortion of the metalconstituting the holdingmeans.

The invention will be more readily understood by referencetothe accompanying drawing, in which; Fig. 1 1S afplan view of hold ng means constructed in accordance with, my invention.- p 1 Fig. 2" we longitudinal SGCtlOIlll View Fig. 7 is'a plan'view thereof;

Fig. 8' isa side elevation of the retainer, and- Fig. 9 is an edge view'thereof. p In the drawings, it will beseen that the device of my invention has been adapted for,

use in connection witha hollow tie, 10, such as described in my copending application,

heretofore identified, and provided with a longitudinal slot, 11,,in'its upper. surface- At a point adjacent to the location of the rail, 12, the slot, 11' is notched, at each side, as at 13.

rectly against the metal of the tie.

the resilient wedge key shown in detailin Figs. 6 and 7,

The construction described be ,dupli- "cated on both sides of the rail or a permanent fastening deviceor abutineiitmay be utilized at one side oftlie if desired 1 While Ihave shown theclainping means in duplicate, Iwill describe butffone coinbination of parts.

It'will be iioted,,liowever, that in Fig.

have illustrated. the fastening key or wedge in its final position at the right hand side," v

and in its initial position, before being driven into position, atthe left hand side. H

The holding ,device comprises a clamp having a bifurcated body'portion, 14, a head, 15, adapted to overlie the base of a rail, .12, and a toe, 16, at the extremityofeach of the bifurcations, 14. The lower portions'ofthe toes are. adapted to enter the notches, 13

and to abut against the rear walls thereof, while the upper portions of the toes provide stops, 17, for the wedgexkey' about to bej'described, will be noted that the. clamp when positioned as shown, provides a positive thrust member against lateral movement of the rail base, the thrust being exerted The retainer shown in detail: in

and 9, is of generally I-shape, and comprises a body,"18, upper flanges, 19, and lower flanges, 20." Thelateralwidth of the flanges is such that. the key may be inserted thr u h-thenotches, 13, andinoved to the I position shown'i i Figs. 2 and 8,;"withtlie' fflan'g'es, 20, underlying ,the metal ofthe tie adjacent to the slotfi'The body portion," 18, of the retainer' .will occupy the space between the bifurcations of the clamp and the 'fianges, 19 willfoverlie the said bifurcations.

consisting'of a. body portion, 21, that" is re The holding"devicecompi'ises a resilient Y duced' in-cr'oss section at 22, a'pair o'farms,

erably. correspond to that o f-the surface117,

on the clamp. The arms, 23, extend past the body of the retainer and as the under- 'surfaces of the arms are inclined corresponding tothe upward inclination of the upper surfaces of'the bifurcations, 14, of the clamp, the key will, when driven into the position "23 and a head having inclined surfaces ,or faces, 24, the inclination of which will pref ioo portion, 21, of the wedge prevents the back ward movement of the retainer toward the only outlet or escape for the retainer, that is, the notches, 13. Preferably the wedge is composed of resilient metal and the reduced cross section. at 212, permits the key to bend sufficiently to enable it to be driven into position with the surfaces, 17, 24, in contact. The angle of such surfaces will be such that if occasion requires, the wedge may be driven backward out of the holding position by means of a drift pin, 25, such as shown in dotted lines, in Fig. 2.

It will be noted that vertical thrust exerted by the rail on the parts constituting the clamp is likewise resisted by positive elements and that actual distortion of the retainer, is necessary before such thrusts would be effective to permit escape of the rail. While I have shown and. described the key as composed of resilient material, it will be understood that a simple wedge might be employed and distorted as required to hold it in position.

An important and fundamental. advantage in the construction described is that of the positiveness of the engagement between the parts. There is no possibility of loosening or disengagement under any conditions short of the actual destruction of the clamping element. Notwithstanding this advantage of firm engagement, the parts may very.

readily be disengaged by applying a lateral wedging force exerted on the wedge key, the force necessary to effect disengagement being applied at a point where there is no stress applied in normal operation.

I claim:

1. In a rail holding device, the combination with a hollow tie, having a longitudinal slot in its upper wall and a lateral recess in communication with said slot, of a clamp having a head adapted to overlie the rail base, a body lying alongside of the slot and a toe entering the lateral recess, a retainer having a portion overlying the body of the clamp and a portion entering the slot and underlying the margin thereof, and a wedge adapted to be driven between the top surface of the body and the overlying portion of the retainer.

2. In a rail holding device, the combination with a hollow tie having a longitudinal slot in its upper wall, and a lateral recess in communication with said slot, of a clamp having a head adapted to overlie the rail base, a body lying alongside of the slot and a toe entering the lateral recess, a retainer having a portion overlying the body of the clamp and a portion entering the slot and underlying the margin thereof, and a resilient wedge adapted to be driven between the top surface of the body and the overlying portion of the retainer.

3. In means of the class described, the

combination of a hollow tie, having a slot in 1ts upper surface and a recess opening into the slot, a ra1l clamp having a head adapted to overlie a rail base,a body adapted overlying the body of the clamp, and a wedge adapted to be driven between the body and overlying portion of the retainer and be held against reverse movement by said stop portion.

4-. In means of the class described, the combination of a hollow tie, having a slot in its upper surface and arecess opening into the slot, a rail clamp having a head adapted to overlie a rail base, a body adapted to lie alongside of said slot and a toe having a portion adapted to enter said recess and a stop portion extending above the plane of the body, a retainer having a portion underlying the walls of the tie and a portion overlying the body of the clamp, and a resilient wedge adapted to be driven between the body and overlying portion of the retainer and be held against reverse movement by said stop portion.

5. In means of'the class described, the combination of a hollow tie, having a slot in its upper surface and a recess opening into the slot, a rail'clamp having a head adapted to overlie a rail base, a body adapted to lie alongside of said slot and a toe having a portion adapted to enter said recess and a stop portion extending above the plane of the body, a retainer having a portion underlying the walls of the tie and a portion overlying the body of the clamp, a resilient wedge adapted to be drivenbetween the body and overlying portion of the retainer and be held against reverse movement by said stop portion and positive means on said wedge preventing horizontal movement of said retainer.

6. In a rail holding device, the combination of a tie having a recess in its top surface, a clamp having portions abutting against and overlying a rail base, and a portion entering said recess and abutting against a wall thereof, whereby lateral thrust of the rail is positively resisted, a retainer overlying said clamp and entering said recess and underlying a wall thereof and a wedge driven between the clamp and the retainer and positioned by distortion of the said wedge whereby vertical thrust exerted on said clamp is positively resisted.

7. In means of the class described, the combination with a hollow tie having a slot in its upper surface, and lateral notches in communication with the slot, of a rail clamp having a bifurcated body, a head adapted to overlie a rail base, and a toe on each bifurcation adapted to enter the notches, an I- shaped retainer, the lower. flanges of'which are adapted to underlie the Walls adj aeent to the slot in thetie and the upper walls of which overlie thevbifurca tions of the body and a Wedge having a pair of tongues adapted to be driven between the body portions rect-ion.

and the overlying portions of the retainer, the body of the Wedge preventing horizontal 'movementof the retainer in reverse di- In testirnony WhereofI have aflixedmy signature.

- I CHARLES R KIMMEL. 

